NEWS1 December 2010
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NEWS1 December 2010
Welcome to the first of our new online debates. It’s your chance to have a say on the research industry’s most controversial topics. Each month we propose a motion, ask two research professionals to kick start the debate and then it’s your turn to make your case.
How to participate 1. Consider the arguments. Just click on the photos below to read 2. Cast your vote. You’ll find the voting panel on the right of this page. 3. Have your say. Return to this page to add your comments below.For the
motionAgainst
the motion
Annelies Verhaeghe
Senior consultant
InSites Consulting
Jeffrey Henning
Founder
Vovici
4 Comments
JonB
14 years ago
I'm against the motion. We might be able to 'get by' with listening, but that isn't really enough is it? Listening is great, but in certain situations we need to ask questions too. For example, to find out who people are in order to aid targeting. Or to elicit their response to a new concept, not seen before. Plus, you'll be surprised how many consumers actually like being asked their opinion... having their say.
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Tom Wood
14 years ago
The motion is 90% correct, but the other 10% means I have to vote against. In my world, user experience, 'watching' rather than 'listening' is the most common modality. We observe user behaviour in order to understand the ergonomic aspects of the user experience. But we also need to explore other factors like engagement and persuasion. Without the ability to ask questions about people's actions and behaviour we're only able to create a pass/fail outcome in terms of usability. Not very useful as input to our client's design approach. Also, and I know this is more of an emotional argument, it just feels darned rude to conclude on the desires, expectations and motivations of consumers without drawing them into the conversation.
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AndyD
14 years ago
We all have a number of senses. Is "watching" better than "hearing" or "touching"? No, it's just different. It's nice to have new and developing "senses" in MR of course - such additions can only add to our understanding of the world around us. And conversely, in each case, a "sense" would be sorely missed if it wasn't there,,, So let's not fall into the trap of believing there needs to be a winner; such things complement each other and are certainly not mutually exclusive. I vote against.
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NickD
14 years ago
The problem is that what people *think* and what they *do* are two completely different things. For example, a person goes into a shop, walks round relatively quickly, looking at a couple of items, then walks out again. Now an observer might reckon that said person didn't find what he was looking for; or that he was comparing prices. But actually asking the person what he was doing might uncover that: - he was checking the item in the flesh before buying online - he couldn't find what he wanted - he was hoping someone would come over and actually talk him through the product specs and actually sell it to him. Without asking, we really wouldn't know.
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